1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a debug method for computer system, and more particularly to a debug method for computer system without using debug card.
2. Description of the Related Art
During the computer booting process, the central processor reads the basic I/O system (BIOS) to perform and test the initial setting of the peripheral hardware (such as hard disc and disc drive) of a computer. After the normal operation of the peripheral hardware elements is confirmed, the central processor of the computer starts to read the data of the operating system for booting process stored in the hard disc, so as to load in the control and operation of various hardware/software elements of the computer. If abnormality of hardware setting or computing error of software occurs during the booting process, the computer cannot be smoothly started up or may even crash. Meanwhile, a debug card is used for testing the operation of the computer and assists the user to smoothly identify and shoot the problem of booting error.
The commonly seen debug card displays the debug data generated during the debugging process on single or multiple 7-segment displays. Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional computer performing debugging with a debug card is shown. The conventional computer 1 includes a central processor 12 and a main-board 11. The central processor 12 is disposed on the main-board 11. The debug card 13 is disposed on the main-board 11 and coupled to the central processor 12.
The debug card 13 includes a bus interface 132, a micro-processing chip 134 and a 7-segment display 136, wherein the micro-processing chip 134 is electrically connected to the bus interface 132 and the 7-segment display 136. The micro-processing chip 134 is used for reading the debug data, such as the power on self test code (POST code), transmitted via the bus interface 132 when the central processor 12 implements the basic I/O system. The micro-processing chip 134 controls the 7-segment display 136 to display the debug data for the debugging during the booting process.
However, such practice not only requires an extra debug card, but also needs to open the computer casing to install the debug card therein. If there are multiple computers need to debug the booting process, the debug card has to be repeatedly inserted into and removed from each computer, which is time-consuming and very inconvenient.